Steampunk Diaries – June 3rd, 1878

With no small measure of help from the blacksmith the ship’s boiler is running perfectly fine now. The Captain gratefully gave the man the local equivalent of ten Pounds, which is more then twice what he asked for his troubles, yet a quarter of what a good boiler manufacturer would have charged. With little fanfare steam was built up and we resumed our belated travels.

My host of the night before, Lord Wulfbach’s castle was slightly down river of our impromptu landing spot so with some interest I wished to view it’s magnificence from this side.

Our dinner had been quite fulfilling both from a culinary standpoint, and from an educational stand point. The Lord was quite knowledgeable about the history and local customs of his realm, including tidbits of folk lore gleaned from gypsy stories. His table liberally groaned under the plethora of foods and drinks, some from distant lands. It was with some reluctance that we parted his company, and promises of further correspondence and invitations for future visits flowed on both sides.

This morning as we rounded the bend of the river, expecting to see his manor I was instead greeted with ruins. While still glorious they were clearly uninhabitable for all but the most beastly. Parts of one wall had clearly been removed for building material of a tiny peasant’s cottage nearby. When queried about the ruins and the local of the Lord’s manor, a fellow traveler replied with his thick accent.

“But Herr Hamell, dat ist Lord Wulfbach’s castle. Er hast been deceased for unhundred yars.”